Since the beginning of the book James has been talking about living out your faith. Now he addresses the objection that so many have – isn’t knowing that God exists and Jesus rose again enough? NO.
Knowledge has never been enough. It wasn’t enough for Abraham to know God could save his son, Abraham had to trust God with his actions. David had to get on the battlefield against Goliath – that is active trust. That active trust, that living faith, has always been the only thing that can bring us close to God, can make God’s promises alive in our lives.
What does that mean, though? We all know that we need to live what we believe, that we need to have active trust in God. And yet we are so quick to say, “God loves me no matter what”. We are so quick to sin then say “Forgive me God” – but make no effort at change. These words from James remind us that God EXPECTS us to obey, to change, to grow. He is God, the King. Knowing that obedience is not optional will change your walk with God. This does not mean we earn our salvation – it is God who is working inside of us – we have just made the choice to cooperate with Him.
http://nlt.scripturetext.com/james/2.htm
